7 reasons why you should visit home

I visit my parents at least once every two years and I always have a blast every single time I go back. For a lot of people who live pretty close to their families, this is not a big deal but if you live 12,000 miles away from home, it is.

Let me give you 7 reasons why you should visit home.

1. Getting treated like a prince or a princess :

when you don’t go home for a year or two, your parents, relatives and friends want a share of your time and you get treated royally everywhere you go. You never get this much attention. :)

I stayed home for 10 days and almost had close to 20 dinner invitations. I felt bad to turn some of them down because I had no time. Worry not, they all came to my house to see me, so it felt great. You had to check out the free swag I got from my parents, uncles and friends. There was this one time when we visited a temple in Tirumala where the average wait time was 8 hours, and we barely waited 20 minutes. See the strings they pull off for you?

2. Mom’s cooking = heavenly :

Seriously, if you are a single person like me, living with roommates, eating crappy frozen food, going home is heaven. My mom makes pretty much anything I want and the best part is that they all taste so good!. I even get bed coffee. How freaking awesome is that?.

Basically, this is how a typical day at home goes for me. My dog wakes me up at 6 ish (usually licking my face). My mom brings me coffee to my bed. Mom makes a list of groceries to buy for dinner and gives it to my dad. Right after breakfast, I get juice or some sort of a fruit salad. At 11, you get a brunch meal and lunch at 2. Lunch is usually rice based and heavy so you might want to take a nap. After my nap, I wake up for tea time!. Dad gets home at 6 ish and my mom starts making dinner. Dinner with all my favorite dishes will be served by 8. How awesome is this?

3. Personal chauffeur :

Driving in India is a major pain in the ass and my parents always let me have a driver to drive me around everywhere I go. What’s not to like about this perk right?

I don’t know if you have driven in india, but it’s really hard to adjust to the crazy driving. The scary part was that I used to drive like that and I can’t do that anymore. That ride from the airport to home is one of the scariest things ever.

4. Access to your Dad’s liquor cabinet :

Does this need any more explanation?

5. Looking back :

Sometimes, I like to look back at the things I did when I was a kid, be it my science projects, stamp or coin collection books, my exam answer sheets or my drawing book. Looking back at them, gives you a sense of who you were, how you grew up and how horrible your handwriting was (thank god for computers and fancy fonts these days.).

6. Relax and unwind :

Usually, when I go on any vacations, I tend to be active and adventurous like going on hikes, meeting new people, going out, travel from one city to another. Basically some sort of planning is involved. I tend to forget all that when I go home. All I can think of is to sleep, eat, relax and the cycle continues. I don’t check work emails, answer phone calls or messages. My blackberry stays off!. I am telling you, there is nothing better in the world than to just DO NOTHING, especially if you work all the time.

Sugarcane Fields in the village at sunset

Every single time I go home, I go to my parent’s farms in the village where there is fresh air, clean water, endless paddy fields (most people don’t know its just rice fields), mango/coconut farms and so much natural beauty. I can sit in such a place for days without getting bored or tired.

Drinking coconut water from a coconut in the fields under a mango tree

7. The look on your dog/cat when they see you after a long time :

Priceless, I mean absolutely priceless. I wish I have taken a video of my dog jumping all over me after he saw me. Folks, you won’t have anyone miss you that much. Ever!.